Financial Analyst: Expectation vs Reality 2020
Going into finance is one of the most popular career paths, with many young people out there aspiring to have a long and successful career there. If you chose to go into finance, then one of the most popular career paths is becoming a financial analyst. As per the subject matter experts over at RunRex.com, the reason why more and more people are pursuing a career as financial analysts is due to the fact that financial analysts are capable of working in many different industries which increases the options one has when looking for a job. As discussed over at RunRex.com as well, financial analysts also have a high earning potential and there is potentially a lot of money to be made, which is always a very big incentive when deciding on a career path. As always though, there is always the danger that you may be going into this career with unrealistic expectations given the rosy picture painted above. As we all know, sometimes our expectations are not usually in line with the reality on the ground as far as most occupations go. To find out if this is the case for financial analysts, this article will look to highlight some of the expectations and juxtapose them with the reality on the ground going into 2020.
The expectation most people have when they begin working as financial analysts is that they will go straight into the deep end, creating financial models for their companies, predicting the outcomes of given business decisions and helping their companies make the right decisions. Most people think that they will go straight in to work with large amounts of financial data and doing a lot of technical stuff. The reality on the ground though, as discussed over at RunRex.com, is that during the first few years working as a financial analyst, you will be spending most of your time reading relevant news articles and industry publications, gathering relevant data on the industry you are working in as well as updating financial models and so forth. In short, the formative years working as a financial analyst are spent gathering information and reading up on financial trends in your particular industry. This is important, as even if it isn’t as exiting as you may have expected, it is aimed at helping you understand more on the industry you are working in, which will come in handy in what is to come as far as your career is concerned. The subject matter experts over at RunRex.com recommend that you take these first three years very seriously and learn as much as you can.
If you decide that you want to pursue a career as a financial analyst, then you will be used to working with numbers long before graduating university. While at university, when working on projects and assignments, for the most part you will be given estimates on numbers and figures and if they are within a reasonable margin of error, they will be accepted. The expectation therefore when you graduate and get into working as financial analyst will be that estimates, when dealing with numbers and figures, will still be acceptable as long as they are reasonable. However, as per the subject matter experts over at RunRex.com, once you start working as a financial analyst, accuracy becomes more important than ever. You have to make sure you go beyond what is reasonable and try to be as accurate as possible as any errors here could skew the figures in such a way that could massively impact the decision making of the company. You don’t want to be the one that got it wrong. The learning also never stops, at least in the immediate aftermath of you graduating and starting work as a financial analyst, another thing that may be not be in line with expectation but is actually the reality. During the first few years, you will probably have to pursue certifications and licensing such as the CFA exam so don’t be surprised if you still have to spare some of your time to study for exams even when already working.
The other expectation of a financial adviser is on the culture at work. Working in the financial sector doesn’t always have the best of reputations, especially since most people go in expecting to work long hours and to be overworked and that you will probably be there to be seen and not be heard. However, most firms in the current era encourage positivity and fresh ideas, as is the case over at the excellent RunRex.com. Most firms now make an effort to ensure everyone feels included and that no one feels like they are being exploited or overworked. Working as a financial analyst going into 2020 is now more rewarding than ever before.
The above are some of the things you should be aware of in terms of expectations and realities of working as a financial analyst, with more on this very wide topic to be found over at the highly rated RunRex.com.